There wasn't any indication on what is actually being welded or why. I'm thinking this case has to be made out of metal because with a big display and thin case you would have a lot of flex otherwise, but it may not do any favours for wifi reception. The unit itself doesn't look overly serviceable or offer a lot in heat dissipation. I'm betting with something so thin air flow is going to be a serious issue and anyone who smokes or has pets could find such a beast not lasting long beyond the warranty period.

More importantly though, I'm not sure what advantage there is in slimming down something which is not designed to be portable. An iMac sits on the desk, you won't want something sitting in front of it, and getting at anything behind it will mean standing up and giving a good reach around. Besides that, being thinner and lighter might not make it as sturdy. A cat jumping up on your desk to keep you company might knock the bloody thing over, and a 5 year old wanting to slap something on the screen could just as easily do the same. Apple has likely done their market research and is aiming at people who are impressed and want to impress their friends with their new computer, but people who want to use a desktop computer might not like it. Having most of the commonly used IO ports (including the SDXC card reader) stuffed in the back will probably make a burgeoning market for USB card readers, usb extensions, miniplug extensions and so forth. This isn't really a new thing for the iMac though, more of an ongoing annoyance they subject their users to.

I don't know what kind of speakers you can cram into a 5mm space, I don't expect great things. No CD/DVD means either purchasing an external drive, using the Apple store or hoping for all new software being provided on USB. It more or less signals an end to brick and mortar computer software sales.

The Mac Mini comes in a server offering, which I find ridiculous. I think the only reason this exists is for K12 environments and media outlets who need somewhere for their files to live, and not much else.

The new iPad doesn't really do anything for me. It's priced above its competition and is priced too close to a full size iPad, I question what market niche it is trying to fill. I know Apple is trying hard to get into online books with iBooks, but they miss an important target which dedicated ebook readers still hit: Back lit display and battery life. It feels more natural and more comfortable to read a book on an ebook reader because you're not staring into a led flashlight the entire time, and the battery life is measured in weeks instead of 10 hours, the current maximum of an iPad.

And finally, the new MacBook Pro. It's much the same as the last Mac Pro but in a 13" form factor. I wonder what future the 13" MacBook Air has when it is currently priced at $1,199 for the 13" model, the exact same price point as the 13" MacBook Pro.

AAPL stock at this writing is down 3.26% as of this writing, the market doesn't seem to think this product launch was as good as it could have been.

I don't like the fact that you'll likely not be able to remove the display yourself. But it sounds to me like you have little first hand experience on an iMac. It will not overheat easily, they are generally well designed. Although they can't get rather loud if under full load. iMac stands are very steady, a cat would have a hard time knocking one down. The i/o ports are hardly what I'd call hard to reach, no worse then any top mounted (or behind a door) on a case. Optical drives were so 2008. I can count on one hand how many times I've needed them since then. Digital downloads are the present and future.

The Mini server has been around for a while. It must be popular enough to keep around.

The iPad mini I find rather interesting. Priced a bit too high maybe but a nice size. Regular iPad is too big to carry out w/ you. GS3 is too small to browse on. I think I'll probably end up selling my old iPad 2 and grabbing a 16GB mini.

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Originally Posted by Mena

. Suits my needs PERFECTLY and I have invested to much in the App/Music/Movie stores to jump to Android.

I have too much time in to my iTunes library to move to something else. I like my ratings & playlists too much.

In my experience, Macs are aggressive in dynamically adjusting their clock speeds to keep temperatures down, but using Bootcamp can yield a much more fan-tastic experience. I don't think this makes the overall system well designed, but it does make the system clever.

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iMac stands are very steady, a cat would have a hard time knocking one down.

The previous model I would agree on, but all that extra room and heat might just be the perfect camping spot for kittah, and kittah might find the iMac offers little resistance to head bunts.

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The i/o ports are hardly what I'd call hard to reach, no worse then any top mounted (or behind a door) on a case. Optical drives were so 2008. I can count on one hand how many times I've needed them since then. Digital downloads are the present and future.

You probably used the USB hub on the keyboard and didn't need to do the reacharound so often.
The previous model looks like it had the SD Card reader on the side, now it is in the back. I guess we'll see how well it works out in practice.

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The Mini server has been around for a while. It must be popular enough to keep around.

It is also a low cost item for Apple to produce in that it is only differs from the model below it in having an extra 1TB hard drive hardware wise, yet costs $200 more.

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The iPad mini I find rather interesting. Priced a bit too high maybe but a nice size. Regular iPad is too big to carry out w/ you. GS3 is too small to browse on. I think I'll probably end up selling my old iPad 2 and grabbing a 16GB mini.

Please do a review when you get it, I would like to know your impressions.

I'm not sure what happened on October 18th, but AAPL took a few swift kicks to the nuts, and pre product announcement only hit a high on the 22nd below where it opened on the 18th. I can't help but wonder if this is a sign of a market shift. If enough people hop on the short selling bandwagon and decide it's time to cash out AAPL stock, I can see a big slide happening especially when you look at their price over the past year.

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Originally Posted by draemn

Stock goes up before announcement, stock goes down with announcement. It seems a common trend for apple stock to swing up and down around major announcements.